


20 days

by Jenayisonearth



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Tell me what you think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-26 14:46:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15003116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenayisonearth/pseuds/Jenayisonearth
Summary: Daniel Howell has had some luck in London, so far. He's got a stable job that can put him through basic needs and his music. And he's met a wonderfull man, someone who changed his whole style of living an it's great. Until its not...





	1. Chapter 1

Dan walked into a burst of strong coffee scent. It was really too late in the night to start ingesting caffeine, but he needed all the caffeine he could get for the long night ahead of him.   
“I’ll be right out!” a voice called from the back. Dan took a look at the almost empty case of sweets and chalkboard menu up against the wall, waiting for the server to emerge. 

“Hey sorry about that,” the voice said as the speaker drew nearer. Dan looked up to see a tall man with black hair and gorgeous eyes. A pair of black glasses propped on his nose, his pale skin contrasting his dark fringe. 

“Um, no problem!” Dan said rather awkwardly. He felt his cheeks flame as his eyes unconsciously roamed over the barista’s face. Once he realized what he was doing, Dan hurriedly looked away. Great, now the hot barista was sure to catch on to his little crush. 

“Thanks, so what’ll it be?” the barista said, attentively looking up at Dan. Dan couldn’t help but stare into those deep blue eyes. 

Then he realized he had been asked a question. Cheeks burning yet again, Dan mumbled, “Um I’ll have a large caramel macchiato please,”

“Good choice.” the barista said. His name tag read ‘Phil.’ That name suited him well. 

“So, that’ll be 4.35,” Phil the barista said when he was done clicking at the screen. Dan handed over the money and went over to the side counter to wait for his drink. 

“So, what brings you in here late at night,” Phil called over the slosh of liquids as he poured various syrups and sweeteners into a cup. Phil was actually trying to make conversation with him? Dan felt a flutter of surprise.  
“I just need a caffeine boost,” Dan said, fiddling with the string of his sweatshirt. 

“At 9:00 o’clock at night? Do you have a night shift job or something?’’ Phil turned to the coffee machine and pressed start.

“I guess you say that, I just procrastinate a lot therefore I need coffee to write an article due tomorrow morning.” 

Phil chuckled, showing those beautiful white teeth and bright smile. “I guess that calls for another shot of espresso then, and I’m guessing you’re a journalist?”

Dan smiled. “Yeah I guess, it’s more of a temporary job just to uphold me for a bit here.” 

“What’re you up holding for?” he asked, sliding a sleeve on the cup. 

“Well I’m trying to become a pianist and singer here, you know, catch my big break or start one.” 

“Another musician ay, I’m a guitarist and singer too, what a coincidence right?” Phil said,  
topping his drink with whipped cream and caramel syrup.

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Dan stated. Sure there were many musicians in London trying to get attention from anyone really, but he was glad Phil was another fellow musician. And that he was making conversation with him. 

“What! No I was liking you!” Phil pouted making Dan blush even harder. He slid a sleeve on his cup and handed it to Dan. 

“Wow that’s a first,” Dan joked taking a sip. Wow, he thought. Great coffee. 

“Well I’m glad I can make you blush,” Phil asserted, taking out a washcloth and beginning to wipe the counters. 

“So you sing?” Dan said changing the subject. 

“I hope so, or I’m just making a fool of myself here,” Phil answered, finishing off with a cheeky grin. “Well, at least you came in right.” Dan blushed again, he didn’t know how to respond to that. 

“Well, can I hear you then?” Dan asked shyly, Phil was about to answer when a jingle signaled another customer, or five college age kids loudly walked in. Dan secretly hated and loved the bunch at the same time.

“Maybe later, Blusher Boy. I work six to ten P.M. all week.” He finished off with a wink and then went on to attend the other customers. Dan just stood there with a nearly empty cup, staring after him. Should he write his number down? No that was too desperate. Or was it? Dan walked out in a frenzy and looked back inside to see Phil looking outside at him, blue eyes following him until he disappeared into the dark of the night. 

~~~

“Uhh,” Dan groaned. It was three in the morning and he still hadn’t finished his article about the economy. This was all boring and didn’t even make sense. Weren’t journalists supposed to write their opinion on people’s problems then become famous and write books?

Dan looked around and yawned, it was so lonely in his apartment. He always lived with someone so he found making dinner and watching movies a bit depressing. He would get an a roommate but if his six foot self barely fit in this tiny place then much less another human being. Plus he had no friends here. 

Dan returned to his article, “Five more paragraphs to go,” he muttered, and clicked away. 

~`   
“Mm,” Dan sighed in pleasure. He nuzzled his head on his desk…wait, desk? Dan opened his eyes abruptly and looked at the clock.

“Nononononono!” Dan panicked, he sent his paper to his boss and raced into the bathroom to wash up. He was supposed to wake up half hour ago!

“Shit shit shit!” Dan pulled up his pants while spitting out foam from his toothpaste, he grabbed a random shirt stuffed it on and ran a comb through his mess of nest that was his hair. No time for straightening. 

He grabbed his bag and computer and ran out the door down the stairs and hailed a taxi. He usually took the metro because taxi’s were too expensive, but today he could cheat. 

“Slept in?” Lyndy asked, the front desk secretary. 

“Yeah, my alarm didn’t go off,” Dan lied.

“Well hurry in and hope Boss is in a good mood,” she called after Dan rushing into the building.

“Hey Howell! Come over here for a minute!” the voice of Boss himself called, ‘Shit’ Dan muttered and trudged his way over. 

 

Greg Dankle, Dan’s boss, was known to be one of London’s best editors in chief and he held that priority over everything, especially an amatuer like Dan. Dan was a bit wary of him, for Dankle obviously had his favorites among the employees, which bothered Dan, but since Dankle was the boss, Dan simply kept his head down and followed his instructions. 

“Good job on your paper, it was better than expected!” Greg praised.

“What?” Dan asked a little bit surprise. The tall man rarely praised him. In fact, he hadn’t praise Dan once in the four months of Dan working here. 

“Yeah, I got it a little later than I’d like, but it’s well written!” Greg continued with his eyebrow a little raised.

“I, um yeah, thank you. Economy is right up my alley,” Dan replied, ignoring Greg’raised eyebrow—probably at my tardiness, Dan thought a bit sourly Before realizing that an article he wrote had just been praised by his boss. Was it really that good?

“Ah, well my expectations are a bit higher for you, Howell, maybe you were a good choice, and there’s a new assignment on your desk so get going.” He slapped the brunette on the shoulder and walked away, Dan’s article in hand. 

“What was that about? And what’s with the hair?” Dan’s co-worker, Tom, whispered.

“Apparently, I write well-written economy articles,” Dan replied, taking a seat at his small, dinged-up desk.. A small mound of papers sat in front of him. “And shut up, I slept in and couldn’t straighten it.” 

“Really, that paper you spent all night on? And I didn’t even know you had curly hair.” Tom’s voice rose a bit more than Dan would’ve liked. 

“Would you hush it? I would like for that little secret to stay secret, and hey, leave my hobbit hair alone. But now I’ll probably have more related articles on that! Why can’t I get all the political ones like you,” Dan knew he was whining, but he couldn’t help the raise of his voice at Tom’s smirking face. He started up his computer and the familiar chime of incoming mail made Dan want to bang his head. Why did he think journaling was a good idea?

“Hey, I never said it looked bad and trust me, you don’t want to,” Tom warned. 

“Why not? It should be better than looking at those confusing stocks and putting them into words.” 

“Well, I’d rather do that then have to read mean comments on our website about my ‘political views’ and how I’m ‘tearing our country apart.’”

“People actually say that?’’ Dan asked amazed.Tom nodded frantically. “Yeah, I should have put anonymous instead of my real name.” 

“Wow, that’s pretty insane.” 

“Dan, you haven’t been in London long enough to experience insane,” Tom said. Dan nearly rolled his eyes. Tom was always trying to get Dan to hang out with his friends, but by the sound of it, they were a pretty crazy group of people. 

“Maybe another time, I have a coffee date all week,” Dan replied.

“A date?” Tom looked positively gleeful at this tidbit of information. “With who? Why haven’t I known about this? Dan answer me! Why are you smiling you ass? Stop playing with my feelings!” By now Tom was shaking Dan’s office chair, but Dan didn’t care. He was smiling down at his next article topic.

“Dan!” Tom whined, peering over Dan’s shoulder to look at Dan’s screen. Non-chain cafe industry, better or not. Dan thought to himself, clicking away to find something else.

“Is this a joke?” Tom’s tone dripped with mock-hurt. “I had my hopes up Dan you utter—”

“Do you need a coffee run?”

 

 

 

“Hey.” Dan called out, walking into the coffee shop. 

“Hey you came!” Phil answered, looking up from wiping some tables, “I was about to close up. Also, I think I embarrassed myself today.” 

 

 

 

Dan stayed in the office a bit later than usual. Usually he would dash off when his time ended but he really wanted this to make a good impression on the readers. 

He sighed in pleasure, Dan was sat down in that chair for four hours doing research and sending emails asking for interviews. He probably enhanced his stalking skills by a hundred finding all those contacts for various different secretaries. He could picture random ladies with bright lipstick and high ponytails raising eyebrows at his very professional begging emails. Would they be surprised if they found out he was just a failed pianist lost in london with hair like a hobbit? Probably not not, his ‘professionalism’ was about as great as his plastic keyboard that didn’t even play f sharp correctly. 

Dan breathed in sharply, he needed at least ten interviews from different companies, the non-chain ones would be easier but the chains would be little harder as they were nation even worldwide. 

After a few more steps he found himself in front of the coffee shop where phil worked. It was now dark and chairs were overturned on the dark table. A lone lamp hanging from the ceiling provided little luminescence to the stainless steel cabinet and wooden drawers. 

Dan’s eyes flickered over to the side counter, smiling as he remembered the memory of Phil's dark hair over his pale skin, how he was so obviously flirting with him and the burning sensation on Dan's face over the conversation. 

God what did this mean? Was he attracted to him? Dan walked away and turned the corner. He knew he wasn't straight, he came to terms with that not long ago but he never really took a deep interest to someone like that, much less a stranger. 

“Maybe later blusher boy, i work six to ten pm all week’’ six to ten, it was eleven thirty so phil got off an hour and half ago. That was four hours there, as far as he knew four hours on minimum wage didn't really do much in the big city but the possibilities were endless. And he said maybe later, the thought of his long fingers that wrapped around his cup crossed Dan’s mind as he picture then strumming a guitar. 

Phil’s voice sounded like it was great for singing, and those eyes where an entirely different story themselves. Maybe dan did want to see Phil again, it sure sounded like the other boy wanted too. But dan knew nothing about flirting, he was awkward enough. Maybe Tom could help as he was always trying to dan up with anyone who had a similar interest to him. He took out his phone sent quick text:

Dan: hey I need some flirting advice

Tom: ooh, give me the deets now! Okay what’re they saying and boy or girl? 

Dan: No it’s a guy I met yesterday and I’m planning on seeing him this week but idk what to say.

Tom: why didn’t out tell me today!!! And okay first tell me about him. Everything there is to know.

Dan laughed, Tom was so into other people's lives he could do you better than you can.

Dan: well I only talked to him for less than ten minutes but he’s tall, taller than me I think.

Tom: dang that’s tall

Dan: thanks I feel so loved being a giant, anyways he has a black fringe and pale skin

Tom: oh then the bruises will show up more obvious

Dan: Tom! He’s practically a stranger!

Tom: yeah but Dan you need to think all this through, and I know you can probably be sexy under that fetus face of yours.

Dan: ew no it makes me uncomfortable and sorry everyone else’s puberty goes by so fast, but apparently he’s a musician too.

Tom: Really? That’s such a coincidence! What does he do? And dan you’re such a twelve year old. Get used to it.

Dan: shut up!

Dan: guitar, and he sings

Tom: oh that’s a plus so he can make up love songs about your eyes and how you make him feel

Dan: that’s so cheesy

Tom: I know, but you like it ;)

Dan laughed out loud, Tom was the friend he wished he had growing up to make school a bit more bearable.   
Just then a car filled with loud screaming young adults swerved from lane to lane causing a ton of beeps from other drivers. Dan jumped and yelped earning a pounding heart. Tom was right about one thing; he was so young when compared to London’s maturity. He still had that small town way of thinking. He put his phone in his pocket and focused on returning to his apartment. It would be nice to have someone else there. Dan always got to attached to people. Whether it be the stranger he kept running into or a friend that was hanging around a lot lately goodbyes were always difficult. Phil was a stranger who flirted with dan, but already he was becoming such an impact on the young boy. 

 

That being said, Dan thought as he settled into his browsing position, it was nice to be able to stretch out. He hadn’t been in many long-term relationships before, but the few he’d had throughout his school years usually meant getting into each other’s way.

That being said, after collapsing in his bed later that night, he fell asleep to the image of a boy with black hair and blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Dan woke up feeling pretty good, he had a good night’s rest for what seemed like the first time since moving to London.

After getting up, changing, eating, and brushing his teeth, he walked out to underground train station quite joyfully. It was sunny outside and, rather than complaining in his head about the gross burn he’d probably get from it, he hummed a tune from some song he couldn’t remember the name of.

“Hello,” Dan greeted Tom rather cheerfully. 

“What’s up with you today? Usually you’re moaning and groaning on how it’s unfair to wake up early,’’ Tom said.

“Good morning to you too,” Dan replied, taking a seat. There were a few things he needed to do today, each printed carefully out on a piece of paper on his desk. He saw, as he scanned over the bullet points, that he had an interview scheduled later for the CEO of a coffee chain that had been getting a lot of attention lately. 

“So? You going to tell me?’’ Tom pressed on. Dan grinned at Tom’s predictable question. If there was one thing constant about Tom, it was that he was always chasing after details in other people’s lives. 

“Nothing. I just felt good,’’ Dan simply said, and enjoyed the look on Tom’s face as he tried to spot a lie in Dan’s tone. When he couldn’t find any,. Tom frowned. 

“So, you’re not going to tell me about that boy you mentioned yesterday? Did he text you? Did you guys meet up? Tell me!” Tom was now shaking Dan’s chair. 

“Calm down, I didn’t even give him my number. And yes, I may or may go over to where he works today but that’s if or if not you let me actually work!” Dan replied.

“Okay, okay, but don’t think you’re not giving me the details tonight.” Tom pointed his index finger tauntingly at him. Dan chuckled and turned his attention towards his computer.

~~~

“Alright I’m heading out for a few hours.” Dan said packing up his bag. Interviews weren’t exactly his favorite thing, but today was different. 

 

“Where are you going?” Tom asked, looking away from his computer screen. 

“Just doing an interview, and then I’m going on my lunch break,” he answered, dropping a few pens on the surface of his desk. 

“Well, if you text me when you’re done, we can go check that new vegan place down the street from that bookstore you love. And I can give you a few flirting tips.” Dan looked over in time to see the wink and smirk Tom offered him. 

“Shut up, and that should be nice. See you later.” Dan waved before turning around and walking out. 

When he got to the building the Interview took place, he pushed through the glass doors and stopped at the secretary's desk. Small beads of sweat grew beneath his fringe as he approached her. The long walk and train ride added to his anxiety. He was a nervous wreck.

“Hi, I'm Dan, I'm here for an interview with Mr. Montez?” the last part came of as a question as he still hadn’t mastered that iconic journalist confidence yet. 

“Dan Howell? What time?” the lady at the desk asked, her perfectly straight back and cold brown eyes intimidated Dan more than he would ever admit. 

“11:30,” he squeaked, Dan earned a slight brow raise as she's clacked away at her tall desktop. Sitting next to it were a couple of pencil holders and various sizes of sticky notes and lined notepads. A mug with white letters spelling Coffee Mill was filled with beige liquid and rested by her clicking mouse. It almost made Dan laugh. How awful must it be to be drinking and subtly ‘promoting’ the brand you worked for. And what if she didn't even like it? Dan couldn't help but give in a little snort but as soon as it came out he regretted it as she stared back at him. Her expression made it clear she saw him as a kid who couldn't control himself.

“Mr. Montez had an overextended meeting this morning so he might be running a few minutes late. You can head up to the upstairs lobby and wait on the couches. Someone will fetch you bring you to him when he's ready,” she spat, each word cold and slow, as if he really was twelve and he didn’t understand what she was saying

“Okay,” he just said and turned away,

“It's just the second floor, you'll see it right away,” she added at his retreating back. 

Dan just nodded and walked faster to the elevator and hopped in. His face was hot and he sighed in relief that he was the only one in there.He punched in the number two and felt himself rise.

Sure enough there was a couple of single red couches arranged neatly by a table with magazines stacked upon it. 

He looked around after taking a seat, noting the company’s big logo the painted on the wall in front of him. Dan tried to calm his breathing a bit, maybe that would calm his nerves. 

Just then a tall Hispanic man with a thick black mustache entered, accompanied by a tall figure., They were surrounded by other men in suits who flocked around him as he made his way down the hall.

Was that him? Dan wondered. A few minutes later a thin girl walked up to him and announced that Mr. Montez was ready for the interview. Dan walk up slowly. Never before had he been this nervous. Then again never before had a possibly front page article on him. 

When he entered the office, he saw that the Hispanic man from earlier was, in fact, his interviewee. Seated behind a large desk, Mr. Montez fixed Dan with a piercing stare, though Dan thought something about his eyes seemed warm and welcoming.

“Hello, Daniel, take a seat.” Mr. Montez said while looking down on a piece of paper. Dan gulped and took a seat on the leather couch in front of him. 

“So how are you?” Mr. Montez asked, this time looking up and expectantly at Dan.

“I’m good, and how are you?” Dan managed. 

“I’m good as well. So, you’re here for an interview. I can’t say I haven’t had enough of those these past few months.” 

If Mr. Montez had been looking to put Dan at ease, he was badly mistaken. Dan’s nerves rose and he fought to keep them off his face.

Clearing his throat slightly, Dan said, “Uh, well, yes, I’m writing a paper about the differences about the chain or non-chain industry.”

“Well then, come at me.” Mr. Montez winked, Dan was really starting to like him.

The interview went more smoothly than Dan could have hoped for. He learned a lot from Mr. Montez that he couldn’t find when he did some reasearch the night before. How Mr. Montez had grown up on a coffee far and how each side of his parent’s families had a farm in the north and south (of where?) giving Mr. Montez a thorough education in the different tastes of coffee. 

“There’s two kinds of people, Dan. There’s the fruity herbal and the nutty rich people. Or some are both, like me,” he had said earlier. Talking with him had come easy and soon enough the hour had passed and Dan had more information than the Wikipedia page had to offer. 

When Dan finally had to get going, he smiled and said, “Well, Mr. Montez, it was great talking to you. You don’t mind if I use some of the quotes about your family farms in my article do you?”

“No, not at all!, Use it! Then the competition will look like they’re copying it.” Mr. Montez gave a good-natured laugh that crinkled his eyes and made him look in his early twenties. After a few formal goodbye handshakes and a pat on the back, Dan was headed downstairs to meet Tom for lunch. While passing the secretary at front desk he felt her eyes burn on his back. He was glad he wouldn’t have to interact with her anytime soon. 

~~~  
“So how did it go?” Tom asked while they were waiting in line. 

“It went great, actually. I have a good feeling about this story,” Dan answered. 

“You sure it isn’t because you get to see Phil again” Tom teased, elbowing his shoulder. Tom was a few inches taller than Dan, which was rare and it only added to his fun attitude. 

“Shut up, Dan chuckled, a rose colored blush creeping ono his face. 

“Nah I’m good.” tom replied, a smirk plastered on his lips as he turned and told the cashier his order. Dan went next and they found a booth at the far corner of the room,

“So tell me,does he have big hands?!” tom asked.

“Um, I guess, why?” 

“You’re so naive, Dan, how are ever going to survive here?” Tom asked, shaking his head. Dan shook it off and proceeded to continue the conversation. 

“He works five to nine all week, I don’t know if I should go today though.” 

“Are you kidding! Of course you go today, then the next and all week!” Tom said easily 

Dan stared at him. “All week?”

“Yes, all week. How did you think I got Alyssa?” Alyssa was Tom’s girlfriend, who was about as crazy and bright as he was, and they seemed perfect for each other. Dan had met her more than a couple times when she hand delivered some tea for Tom, but she went away to Manchester to take a year for photography. Tom basically commuted over there every other weekend.

“By stalking her at work at night?” Dan asked sarcastically.

“No, Dan, it's romantic. You help him finish off and then you go somewhere after, and if he’s a musician and sees your little pattern he’ll be more ready for your next visit.” Tom leaned back, arms folded, and with a proud expression on his face. 

“Okay… so I go today, but what if it’s a complete flop and he hates me?” Dan asked.

“Well, from what you told me he flirted with you, and you were a bit awkward then, and you can always stop by my place so I can help you ‘prepare,’” he offered, adding quotation marks with his fingers. 

“Sure.” Then the food came and hungry Dan overtook, silencing the table. Once they finished, they headed back to the office and Dan worked on writing his interview he had recorded. Soon, five o'clock came and Dan waved off to Tom and headed out.


	3. Chapter 3

The air outside was a bit chilly when Dan got out of his apartment complex. Tom lived only a few blocks away from Dan’s place, making the walk a sort of peaceful. It already was pretty scary to go on and talk to Phil, just thinking about it made his palms sweat up so the cool walk calmed him a bit, or at least got rid of the perspiration on his hands. The absurd amount of stairs up to Tom’s apartment was ridiculous and got that sweat back soon enough, including in other places. 

“There you are, what took you long?” Tom said, yanking Dan in seconds after Dan knocked.

“Not my fault you chose to live on the sixth floor.” Dan shoved his sweater into Tom’s hands. 

“Well maybe you should get in shape if you want to impress coffee boy,” Tom replied, looking at Dan. 

“You’re supposed to build up my confidence!” Dan whined. 

“No,” Tom answered with a little grin“Did you bring clothes?”

“No,” Dan replied with a knitted brow as he looked at Tom. 

“Did you bring anything?” 

“No.” Dan frowned in irritation.

“Sorry! Okay did you bring a brush?” Tom asked.

“How was I supposed to know? You didn’t tell me to,” Dan protested.This was constant with Tom. Out of all the things he talked about, he always forgot to mention certain thing and expected others to know. 

“Well, I have a few things you could wear. At least we have the same body type.” 

“What’s wrong with this?” Dan said, looking down at his outfit. It was the same one he spent half an hour choosing. It was as close to perfect as he could get. 

“Nothing, but you could do better, same for your hair,” he replied simply before disappearing down the hall. 

Dan followed, a little anxious of what Tom had in mind for him. He looked at the pictures on the wall, a lovely collection if his friend and his significant other. In each picture they were both smiling, whether with other people or just themselves. They were both happy. Dan’s finger lingered a little over the last picture frame. He had had a better childhood than most people, able to have three meals a day and didn’t fall short on any needed supplies. He was a happy kid but he’d found that blissful happiness faded as he got older. Now that he was an adult, would his life be different—happier—with someone else? 

“Here, put these on,” Tom said, appearing in the doorway making Dan whip his head around. Extended towards Dan was a pair of black skinny jeans and light pink shirt with some sort of design over a pocket. 

“Isn’t this stereotyping?’’ Dan asked, looking up.

“Just put it on and stop assuming my choices,” Tom chided, shoving Dan into a bathroom. The pants fit really well, but the shirt clung to Dan a little bit more than he’d like. 

“Do you have something a little looser?” Dan asked, stepping out, 

“Oh, Dan, this isn’t that tight, of course you wouldn’t know with all those baggy t-shirts you always wear,” Tom replied, holding up a towel and a mist bottle. 

“Hey! Stop insulting me and my clothes!” Dan defended. However, he saw that Tom was right. 

“What’s with that?” Dan pointed to the stuff in Tom’s arms. 

Tom looked down then looked in Dan’s eyes with a pleading look. “You look good with curly hair,” he said in a sweet tone. 

“No,” Dan said stepping back arms extended, his voice clear and loud. “You aren’t getting that anywhere near my freshly straightened hair.” 

“Oh, come on, Dan, you look cute with curly hair and it would even better with this shirt.” 

Dan shook his head firmly. 

Tom sighed. “Fine, you win, but I choose your cologne.” 

 

~~~

“I can't do it,” Dan said, sidestepping into a side alley next to the coffee shop. 

“Now what?’’ Tom asked. 

“What am I going to say?” 

“You could start with ‘hey,’” Tom offered with a snicker.

“But then what?” Dan demanded, the pitch of his voice rising.

“Oh, come on, Dan do you hear yourself? Just go in or I’ll drag you in and start talking to him,” Tom said, pulling Dan out.

“Fine,” Dan groaned, ready to open the door when a spray of water hit his ear. 

“What the heck Tom!” Dan shrieked, wiping the small droplets of water of his hair. 

“Okay, go!” Tom laughed, pulling the door open and pushing Dan in. 

Dan glared at him through the glass door and wiped his hands on the side of his thighs. He was thankful that the wetness disspapeared and steppedin line After the couple in front of him moved off, he walked up to see Phil, who asked him what he wanted. 

“A large caramel frappacino,” Dan replied, earning a surprised laugh from Phil. 

“Hey it's you!” Phil giggled, Dan swore there was a pink coloring on his cheeks that weren’t there before. 

“Yeah its me,” Dan replied, feeling his own starting to heat up. 

“Dan,” Phil said proudly while writing Dan's name on the clear plastic cup. 

“What can I say, the Caremark frappuccino really is good,” Dan replied

“I knew you'd like it,” Phil said, setting down Dan’s cup and then looking back up. “It’ll be ready in a few.”

“Um how much is it?’’ Dan asked.

Phil shook his head in response. “On me,” he said softly and waved Dan away as he called for the next customer. 

Dan went on, mouthing a thank you as he walked on by the side counter. The few people ahead of him were already there on their phones or just looking around awkwardly. Dan leaned by a tall window and pulled out his phone. After a few minutes, he heard his name called out. 

“Sorry, you caught me at a busy time, usually there many in the afternoons but maybe it the pumpkin spice,” Phil quickly explained, sliding Dan’s cold drink towards him. 

“If you give me ten minutes, I can go on my break,” Phil said, already turning around. 

“Of course,” Dan replied, and the black haired man was off greeting another customer. 

It was actually twenty-two minutes and thirty-three seconds before Phil came up, apronless, with a smile plastered on his pretty face. It was hard enough not to breathe in sharply like a superfan looking at a picture of their favorite idol, and it was even harder to muster a few words. Or a word in this case. 

“Hey,’ Phil said, being the first to start actually speaking. 

“Hey.” Thank God for all those childhood acting classes. 

“How are you?” Phil asked, taking a seat across Dan. 

“Are we seriously making small talk?” Dan asked, sipping the last dregs of his sweet drink. 

“Hey, small talk can go a long way, and it's not like I’ve known you for long,” Phil replied with a grin. 

“Okay, I’m good. How about you?” Dan asked, going along. 

“I’m great now that you're here, which is surprising, as I’m not really a people person.” Phil replied. 

“I can relate to that,” Dan replied.

“I should've chosen a less interactive job I guess. I was just applying everywhere my first week here,” Phil continued. 

“I can relate to that, too, just running around to make up for your past self's lack of ahead of time management.” Dan replied. 

“Maybe in another universe you're a barista and I'm a journalist,” Phil said excitedly. Dan couldn't help but smile ridiculously and the cute face on the boy across him. 

“Maybe,” Dan replied fondly, his melting frappuccino long forgotten to the side. 

Phil chuckled. “So, what are you looking for in London? I mean, music-wise.”

“Maybe just a classical musician. It's all I really play or try to play. I didn’t exactly have swell learning experience.” 

“Really? Tell me about it.” Phil said with sparkling eyes.

“Well,” Dan said, smirking slightly. “You asked for it.”

He launched into the story of his psychotic piano teacher, doing his best to remain as truthful as possible while also be engaging.

Phil, however, didn’t need much from Dan—after all, it was a wild story—and his eyes were near tears when Dan finished his story. 

“Just meat, nothing else?” Phil laughed.

“Nothing! I was already terrified, so imagine me after I saw that.”

Phil laughed some more, “I have a feeling you’re full of them,” he finally said after a few more giggles. 

“Oh that’s nothing compared to my traumatic childhood.” Dan replied, remembering his poor pet hamster, Suki. 

“I’d honestly love to hear it, but I should get back. There’s only two of us and it looks like more people are coming in,” Phil said, looking at the counter. 

Dan nodded. “It’s fine. We had a good talk.” 

Phil smiled. “See small talk can go a long way.” 

With that, he was off wrapping his brown apron across is back. Dan smiled to himself as he made eye contact with Phil before he greeted another customer.

Dan drank the last bit of coffee and headed towards the door.

It felt good talking to Phil. Even though he just met him and barely had a conversation with him, it felt like he knew him forever. Dan looked at his now empty cup, hesitating before he threw it away. The clear plastic smeared with frothy residue but in black pen a number ws clear. Dan took the sleeve off and sure enough was a number with Phil’s name underneath.


End file.
